The Island of the Shadow of Death
by Jack Barrington
Summary: What happens when classmates are forced to rely on each other for survival, without any adults, in an island crawling with man-eating dinosaurs? Only one way to find out! Rated T for violence in later chapters.
1. Chapter I

The Island of the Shadow of Death

A Jurassic Park III Fanfic by Jack Barrington

BIG HONKING DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Jurassic Park movies, characters, or stories. This story is intended as an experiment of mine to essentially rewrite Jurassic Park III, which I think brought down the entire trilogy, and make it much better than it was.

Chapter I

A tall, blond woman drove her blue Cadillac into the driveway with the groceries, like she always did. Her husband had probably already gotten home from work, and so she expected him and little Tommy to greet her, like they always did. She got out of the car, fiddled with the keys a little, and let herself in.

But this was no normal day. The minute she walked in the door, that woman gasped in horror, dropped her groceries, and began sobbing uncontrollably at a sight no one should ever have to see.

Her husband (or what was left of him) was lying in pieces, strewn everywhere. Blood covered the walls and carpets. She could see that his head had been rent off and torn asunder...

She immediately rushed upstairs to Tommy's room to check if he was alright. He didn't have a scratch, but the two-year-old was wailing his heart out. She tried to calm him down, but couldn't even calm herself now. How would she tell him that Daddy was gone forever?

"Mommy! Mommy!" he cried out. "The monsters! They came in here! They came in here!"

With that, she called the police to report a murder. And an extremely gruesome and inhuman one at that.

At that same moment, in Southwest Beach High School, Ben Weston was really hoping that the final school bell would ring so he could just get to enjoying the weekend and surf the Pacific with his pals.

There were only five minutes remaining in the day, and then his 9th grade biology teacher, Ms. Friedman (a wiry, tall redhead in her early 30s) stated, "Class, I have an announcement to make!

"Our school has entered in a TransGlobe Airlines contest, and our number came up! So, they have offered our class an all expenses paid trip to Hawaii, where we will study Hawaiian plants and animals! And you'll miss a week of school!"

The kids cheered! They would be going to Hawaii! They could almost smell the tropical air. And the missing school part was even better!

"Now," Ms. Friedman continued, "I'll be handing out permission slips for every one of you. Turn them in by Monday, and then you'll be driven to Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday, where the plane will await us!"

Then the bell rang, and all of the students ran towards the buses, excited for the break!

At that same moment, in a mysterious jungle in the middle of nowhere, a team of workers with hard hats surrounded a giant metal box.

"Is the cargo contained?" the foreman asked one of his employees.

"Yes, sir!" the employee replied.

"Excellent, then," the foreman continued. "Now let's load it onto the dock and ship it out tomorrow! The boss will be very pleased with your hard work!"

Just then, the box began to shake, and there was a rumbling inside of it. The men pointed their guns at whatever it was, but suddenly, the door fell open and the "cargo" was released. And it was pretty ticked off.

That was the last thing that the foreman or his workers ever saw in this life.


	2. Chapter II

A/N: Hey everybody, if you're reading this, I just want to let you know that I'll be regularly updating this about once a week. Please review and let me know about any comments, questions, or suggestions that you may have- I'd love to hear them!

Chapter II

Ben Weston and his 9th grade biology class arrived in Los Angeles International Airport bursting with joy that the big Hawaii trip was finally here! Unfortunately, Mrs. Friedman had gotten a cold over the weekend, so they had a substitute teacher, whose name was Mr. Hudson.

But despite the fact that Mrs. Friedman was not there, they were all thrilled when the plane, a small and old but tough 737 passenger jet, landed in the airport, and they were escorted onto it.

The students and Mr. Hudson were the only passengers, so they were free to sit wherever they wanted. All of them went into first class. And Ben Weston sat next to his friend, Greg Smith.

"Isn't this so cool?" Greg asked Ben.

"Yeah!" Ben replied.

Shortly afterwards, the plane took off, and the kids waved goodbye to Southwest Beach High School, and California itself.

Most of the other kids were chatting about what they would do once they got to Hawaii, but Ben and Greg said few words to each other. They were both nerdy, quiet, and sometimes shy, and that's why they had been best friends since 4th grade. And as the sky grew dark, all of the students fell asleep.

Then, at 2:00 in the morning, the captain received a warning from the National Weather Service, which stated "Please be advised that there will be a Category 3 typhoon in the area off of Mexico soon."

"I copy," the captain replied. Knots were forming in his stomach at the thought of this storm. He hadn't been in a hurricane in years, and didn't want to again. He used the radio in the plane to call out to the passengers.

"This is your captain speaking," he said. "We will be undergoing some turbulence, so you must remain in your seats. Also, we will be making an emergency landing in Mexico, but only for tonight. We'll be heading back to Hawaii in the morning."

The kids woke up, rubbed the sleep out of their eyes, and started moaning at the bad news. But it was about to get worse...

The captain was flying over Acapulco, Mexico, flying east, and had thought that he had gotten away from the storm. But then a massive, deafening roaring was heard outside the plane. It was too late. Typhoon John had caught up with them.

"Brace yourselves!" the captain warned.

Ben and Greg finally awoke to see their plane being picked up and swirled around in the grip ferocious storm like a child's toy in a bathtub. Everyone was screaming and dizzy, and some even gave up their airline food.

Ben's heart leapt to his throat! How could this be possible? He didn't want to be in a plane crash, especially not at the age of 14! What could he do? He decided to just close his eyes, grip his seatbelt with all his might, and pray it was all a dream.

But Typhoon John was not a dream in the least. And the captain didn't know where they were headed- all he knew was that he had to somehow keep the plane up in the air. The storm carried the plane for what appeared to be several hundred miles before it moved inland and released its grip.

However, in the vortex of wind that John left behind, the right wing was ripped off.

"Attention all passengers!" the captain shouted. "Please remain calm. Put on your life jackets, located in the back of your seats, and prepare for crash landing!"

"Please, everyone quiet!" Mr. Hudson yelled at the top of his lungs. But it was no use- panic had firmly seized the poor teenagers.

The captain desperately searched for a place where his wounded aircraft could land. He found a deserted tropical island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, and took his chances.

Dr. Alan Grant had been excavating a potential site for dinosaur bones in Nevada when he was called up to the Los Angeles Police Department for no apparent reason.

The police were somehow interested in him. But what had he done wrong? And why couldn't the government just let him pursue his love of paleontology in peace for once?

"Yesterday," the Police Commissioner said, "a 737 passenger jet operated by TransGlobe Airlines left Los Angeles International Airport at 10:00 AM. And it didn't come back."

"Why are you telling me this?" Dr. Grant asked.

"John Hammond recommended you," the Police Commissioner replied. "He says you're in the best man in your field."

"John Hammond sent you?" Grant shouted. "I want nothing to do with that basket case."

"We all know about what happened all those years ago," the Police Commissioner continued, calmly. "But..."

"Wait a minute!" Grant said. "Don't tell me they, and you're...?"

"Yes," the Police Commissioner sighed. "We have evidence from the last transmission of the plane's Emergency Locator that they crashed somewhere in Jurassic Park. You have been to the area before, and know the dangers, and so will lead a joint LAPD, California State Police, and FBI rescue mission. There are about 17 people at risk, including the captain, substitute teacher, and kids. We need you to go to Jurassic Park as soon as possible."

"No way!" Grant barked. "You can't ever make me go back to Jurassic Park! I saw people eaten like potato chips! Do you idiots have any idea what you're up against?"

"That's why we picked you to lead this mission, d***it!" the Police Commissioner roared. "Besides, your girlfriend, Ellie Sattler, has already signed on."

"What? Not Ellie!" Grant cried out, slapping his forehead. "You convinced her?"

"Yep," the Police Commissioner grinned, confident of victory.

"Fine, I'll go for her sake. But if any one of you dies, it's not my fault."

"Sure. Now, pack your things. We leave for Jurassic Park in a few days."


	3. Chapter III

Chapter III

Stranded, Day 1

Last night, Ben Weston's biology class had been thinking only of what Hawaii would be like. Now they were stuck someplace far from civilization after a horrific plane crash.

Fortunately, no one had died because of the impact, since the captain had managed to land the plane on top of some trees to cushion the impact. But they had a limited supply of food and water from the plane, which could not last a group 20 people for very long.

The captain had gotten a fire going and jury-rigged the wreckage of the plane into a shelter using his emergency toolbox, and everyone was huddled around it as the sun began to set.

"We need to get some meat to cook," the captain urged everyone. "Does anyone want to go hunting?"

One of the five prissy popular girls, whose name was Jenna threw her strawberry blond hair back and said, "No! We are not killing any innocent animals. They have rights and deserve respect, you know."

"It doesn't matter!" the captain snapped. "We need the protein, or we'll all die!"

Mr. Hudson calmly told Jenna, "You don't have to hunt or even eat the kill if you don't want to. But someone has to."

"I'll go!" said Jack, a football player with jet black hair and plenty of muscles. The other three football players in the group volunteered as well.

While he was on the island, Ben Weston didn't want to be viewed as a scrawny weakling by being left out of anything manly like hunting. So he decided to join in too.

When he asked Greg, "Hey, do you want to come with, dude?" Greg replied, "No, it's cool man. I'm fine."

As night fell, the captain led the five-man hunting party into the deep jungle, looking for any small rodents, birds, or other game that might be in a tropical rainforest environment.

They soon found what appeared to be some wild rats. Ben furiously chased after the rats, but he was not very fast, and so did not get to kill a single one of them, which greatly infuriated him. Now those airheads would get all the credit!

After the hunt was over, they all hauled about 10 rats back to camp, enough to feed them for tonight, at least. The rest of the people at camp cheered, and everyone (except Jenna) was starving enough to help cook and eat the rats.

A little later, the trees started to sway in an unnatural way, and a long shadow began to loom over the camp as they told ghost stories and jokes over "rats on buns" (as they called them), unaware of their situation. Suddenly, a loud and unfamiliar sound echoed over the beach, like some sort of hideous bellowing from heck.

The frightened party turned just in time to see an ugly, scaly face full of sharp teeth loom 15 feet over them. The thing, whatever it was, let out another roar and attacked!

The captain courageously attempted to shoot the monster in the eyes with his pistol, but it was no use, as he was promptly pinned to the ground by a giant foot and ripped in half. The captain's final sacrifice allowed everyone else to gain some distance over the beast.

The monster bellowed again and chased after the remaining humans. Running at top speed, it was gaining on them, and they were getting tired from the chase. Next, Mr. Hudson, out of breath, tripped over a rock and clutched his leg in excruciating pain. The monster put him out of his misery, then turned around and headed back towards the plane (presumably to scavenge whatever food was left inside.)

The kids had so many questions swirling in their minds as they tried to catch their breath again. What kind of creature was that? What would they do, now that the adults were dead? How would they find food, shelter, rescue, etc.? Would they ever get off this frackin island alive?

But for now, they simply rested in a (thankfully) abandoned cave, ever watchful in case the monster paid them a visit again.

At that same moment, a man and his wife were driving to their apartment garage after ordering some Chinese food. They were looking forward to a romantic dinner at home together, when suddenly, screeching was heard, and then something jumped on the hood of their car.

Both of them screamed as loud as they could and locked the doors. One of the creatures ripped off a mirror, while another chewed on the front bumper. The man tried to start the car and flee for his life, but the attackers ripped holes in the tires, making it impossible to move. He tried to blind them with the headlights, but they smashed them in.

And before they could call 911 and get help from the police, one of the creatures scratched a small hole in the window, and then broke in. That was the end of them.


	4. Chapter IV

Chapter IV

The next day, the Los Angeles Police Department was on the scene of the crime. And it delivered Dr. Alan Grant some extremely sobering news.

"We got back a swab from the area where a man and a woman were murdered," the Police Commissioner stated, his eyes low to the ground. "And the DNA is that of the species Velociraptor mongoliensis."

"My God," Grant muttered in disbelief.

"My God," he said again. He thought, How could those freakin' dinosaurs get all the way here from Jurassic Park?

"And, these velociraptors may be responsible for a third death, that of a man brutally torn into pieces in his own home," the Police Commissioner continued. "The Governor has declared a state of emergency, and most of those personnel who were supposed to go to the Jurassic Park rescue mission will have to stay behind to deal with this new threat."

"I thought you said this rescue mission was extremely important!" Grant yelled. "And besides, there hasn't been a single dinosaur on the mainland since that stomped through San Diego four years ago."

"Of course this is more important!" the Police Commissioner fumed. "Even if we manage to catch all of the stinkin' raptors, they may introduce communicable dinosaur diseases that will kill millions."

"Fine then! I'll go on this rescue myself if I have to!" Grant said. Then he wished he had taken that back. He had his chance to get out of going back to Jurassic Park, and for some reason he didn't take it.

"Good, then. Dr. Sattler will be waiting to greet you at the airport."

oooooo

Stranded, Day 2

After a traumatic attack by some sort of ferocious monster, the 15 kids of Mrs. Friedman's biology class woke up in a dark, smelly cave on an island that was definitely not Hawaii, without any adults whatsoever.

There were a few moments of eerie silence, and then Greg stated the question that was on everybody's minds, but no one wanted to hear. "What if...that was a dinosaur?"

"Dude, are you freakin' kidding me?" Jack yelled. "Haven't dinosaurs been dead for, like, a billion years? You're supposed to be the nerd around here!"

"But I know what I saw, and that thing walked on two legs, had scales and teeth, and was gigantic! That's what I call a dinosaur for you, ya moron!"

Greg and Jack nearly came to blows over it, but were restrained by their friends. Then the "dinosaur" theory was dropped quietly.

Jack proclaimed himself chieftain of the group, and Jenna his chieftainess, and then both proceeded to boss everyone around, like they had back home. Their useless commands included: building a royal throne, making a leaf necklace for Jenna, and styling Jenna's hair into several different braids.

Then, it was time for Jack and his hunters to go find some more rats to eat. But when Ben Weston asked, "Hey, can I join you guys again?" they laughed him off and called "wimp". And they get to take all the glory again, Ben thought, while the rest of us are doing all the hard work. Typical of dumb jocks!

As Jack and the hunters were following the trail of a small pig, a low thumping on the ground caused ripples to appear in the water. Next thing they knew, a large, grey mass that looked like a freaky rhinoceros was bellowing and running only feet away from them.

After that, a giant green, scaly blur charged at the rhino-thingy, roaring at the top of its voice. It looked strangely like a T-Rex and Triceratops, only not two-dimensional and staring at him from the safety of a textbook, Jack thought. Then he immediately dismissed it, since he had disagreed with Greg about the existence of dinosaurs earlier. Whatever those things were, the hunters dedided to hide.

The T-Rex roared and attempted to find the Triceratops' throat, but it swung its huge horn at the and severely scratched its leg. The T-Rex hit the Triceratops in the side with its tail, then bit down on the frill, causing it to roar in pain. However, the Triceratops threw its attacker off, hit him in the face with one of its horns, and ran away. The T-Rex knew he was beaten, and walked out.

But then he smelled something...strange. An odd mix of sweat, cologne, deodorant, and terror- the last one he knew (the other three were a mystery to him.) Then he looked down and saw some small, pinkish, scaleless things. Perhaps they might make a great snack to tide him over for the night.

As the T-Rex roared, displaying its impressive array of teeth, Jack and his so-called hunters became the hunted, and ran as fast as their legs could carry them. The T-Rex roared again and chased after them, until Jack's group arrived at the cave.

They all dove in for cover, but one of them, Bobby, was too late and met his gruesome end at the hands of jaws that could crush a car and were full of teeth the size of bananas. Thankfully, the T-Rex could not fit in the cave, because everyone was rooted to the spot with fear that he could. He gave one last defiant roar and walked away.

After that, Greg grinned. "There are dinosaurs on this island. I knew it all along!"

Jack snarled and punched Greg's nose in. Then Ben, enraged, socked Jack in the ear, and was promptly wrestled down by the football players.

"Don't hurt him!" cried a brunette, olive-skinned girl named Rebecca, as she shielded the wounded Ben from harm.

Jack lowered his fists and trudged away. Then Ben spat out a tooth and cried, "Like you've done anything except being a bully, Jack! And you nearly got us all killed by a Tyrannosaurus Rex, for Pete's sakes!"

"Shut your mouth or I'll rip it off your face! I swear I will!" Jack roared.

"But it's true!" Ben yelled. "Who..."

Jack shouted, "Who votes for leaving the Three Musketeers here to rot? Huh? Huh?"

Everyone except Ben, Greg, and Rebecca raised their hands (most of them out of fear of Jack and his football players.)

"You won't last two weeks!" Ben spat.

"You won't last two seconds!" roared Jack. Jenna gave them one last defiant harrumph before walking away.

Rebecca continued to tend to Ben's wounds. And then he drummed up the courage to ask her, "Thanks for defending me back there. But why?"

"You were the only one brave enough to speak up after that horrific attack. Jack was just being a jerk, and I hope he comes around."

Greg quipped, "A Jerkosaurus Rex, to be exact!"

They all laughed at that one-liner. You couldn't be happy for long when survival in the balance in an island crawling with killer dinosaurs. But that was all they could to not become insane.


	5. Chapter V

Chapter V

Rescue Mission, Day 1

"What's the matter, honey?" Ellie Sattler asked, giving Dr. Alan Grant a kiss on the cheek.

"I'm just...worried," he said.

"About what?"

"Going back. I swore I would never do that again. And now those kids, those poor kids..."

Then Dr. Ian Malcolm burst onto the scene. "Grant, hey, buddy! How are you?" he said to Grant as they shook hands.

"Not feeling so swell about reliving you-know-what."

"Yeah, me neither." The trauma was more fresh in Malcolm's mind than it was in Grant's, since Malcolm had previously been to Isla Sorna four years ago.

"That d*** fool Hammond should have listened to me and not created those monsters," he sighed. "I told him, 'Life will...'"

"I know, I know! Find a way!" Grant said irritably. "Now, what did you find for us to use to rescue these kids?"

"A small 1979 Cessna A40," Malcolm grinned. "And ain't she a beauty?"

It was incredibly rusty and worn, the paint was chipping off, and the pilot looked he hadn't been in flight school for years.

Grant just said, "Yep, she's a beauty alright."

Then, several people ran up to the plane with concerned looks on their faces. They all swarmed Grant and his group with demands to be taken along with them to Jurassic Park.

Dr. Grant quieted the group down and yelled, "Are you all out of your minds? You want to go to Jurassic Park? Do you realize that there are man-eating creatures out there?"

They all yelled, "Yes! But we want to see our children again! We're worried sick about them!"

A riot might have broken out right then and there if Malcolm hadn't said, "Well, we only have room for five passengers, including Dr. Grant, Dr. Sattler, myself, and two of you. Which two actually want to go with us?"

Mr. and Mrs. Westen stepped up. Mr. Westen said, "We'll do anything to save our son, Ben. We'd be crushed if he was dead, and we want to do something!" while Mrs. Westen just sobbed.

"You understand the irisks involved?" Malcolm asked.

"Yes," Mr. Westen replied, choking up with tears.

"Well, then, welcome to the team," Malcolm smiled, giving them both a hug and escorting them into the plane.

Grant rolled his eyes. Malcolm could be a fool sometimes.

ooooo

Stranded, Day 3

Jack and his new tribe were moving through the jungle, trying to find a new shelter.

Then one kid, whose name was Anthony, complained, "Ow! My legs hurt really badly!"

"Shut up, you idiot!" Jack yelled. Then he and his football players punched the horseradish out of him.

"Leave him there!" Jack commanded. "Keep moving!"

Some courageous kids, though, decided to secretly go against Jack's orders by carrying Anthony for the rest of the trip.

Meanwhile, three man in camouflage were debating what to do.

"We should take them all out now! We can't have any witnesses!" said the first man.

"How about we just let them get eaten? They'll be good practice for our star's big entrance," the second man suggested.

"I say shoot 'em! It's much easier!" the third man piped up.

"Fine," the second man reluctantly agreed.

Then the three of them jumped up from the bushes with automatic rifles and yelled, "Freeze!"

All of the kids ran as fast as they could in all directions in order to dodge the hail of gunfire that ensued. But the two people carrying a wounded Anthony were in deep trouble, since they were slower and easier targets.

They could think of only one thing to do- go back to the cave where Ben, Greg, and Rebecca were hiding for shelter. The team of gunmen sent the first man after them.

Ben Westen saw them coming and whispered, "Guys, it looks like they need our help!"

Greg and Rebecca took Anthony off of the shoulders of his friends and hid somewhere safe. Then the first man arrived. He couldn't see much, and the kids didn't dare make a sound, so he simply randomly shot in the dark, hoping to hit something.

Ben decided not to hide any longer! He took a rock, hoped that his few years of Little League baseball throwing would help him, and tossed it at the gunman. It hit him square in the head, knocking the rifle out of his hands.

Anthony moaned in pain as a ricochet bullet bit him in the leg. Ben yelled, "Everyone stay here! I'll find the others!" He snatched up the rifle and ran out.

It didn't take him long to see Jack running away in panic, and then locate everyone else. He somehow overcame the tremendous butterflies in his stomach, and then grabbed onto a vine and hoped that adrenaline would be enough to prevent him from falling.

He took his first swing on the vine just when he saw the two remaining gunmen. They spotted him and attempted to shoot him down, but he jumped from the vine onto the second man, knocking him out. The second's man gun went off into the third man, killing him instantly.

Just then, Jack decided that he couldn't let Ben be thought of as a hero. So he charged at Ben, and before Ben knew what was happening, he was knocked out by the rifle butt.

When Ben woke up, he was in the cave, surrounded by Greg, Rebecca, Anthony, and the two people who had carried Anthony.

"What...happened...?" Ben asked, slowly rising.

"Shh, shh! You've been hurt. Don't talk or move," Rebecca said, patting his forehead with cool water. "By the way," she continued, pointing to the two people who had carried Anthony, "their names are Michael and Sal."

"Pleased to meet...," Ben started to say.

"What did I say about talking?" Rebecca asked.

Ben simply nodded.

"Buddy," Greg said, "We've tried everything, but Anthony d- d- died..." He started sobbing loudly, and everybody joined in.

They all helped to bury Anthony, and then cried some more. All of them just wanted to get off this stupid island, and fast.


	6. Chapter VI

Chapter VI

Murder Investigation, Day 5

"I want everywhere within 200 miles of Los Angeles searched the Velociraptors who did this, and pronto! They can't have gone far," the Police Commissioner yelled into the radio.

"Sir, yes, sir!" said a Squad Leader.

The Squad Leader was in charge of about 5 LAPD and FBI men who were patrolling in two police cars in the hills near San Bernardino. The sun was just rising, and everyone was alert for any signs of danger in their immediate area.

Just then, the long grass started to move slightly. The men kept their guns pointed at it until it stopped moving. When they weren't looking, it moved again, its motions closer and closer until...

A loud screeching was heard, and a Velociraptor jumped onto the windshield of the Squad Leader's police car. The Squad Leader pulled out his machine gun and tried to hit the raptor, but it jumped out of the way.

A second Velociraptor smashed through the door, and before he could turn around, the Squad Leader saw the Velociraptor tearing out his liver. Then all went black, and the last thing he thought before being eaten was that his comrades would not survive either.

Rescue Mission, Day 5

The pilot and co-pilot of the Cessna A40 that was taking Drs. Alan Grant, Ellie Sattler, Ian Malcolm, and Mr. and Mrs. Westen to Jurassic Park became wary as they got close to the island. This was because the entire area was shrouded in thick, dangerous banks of clouds that made visibility almost zero.

Grant was visibly impatient. A plane would not normally have taken almost four days to get here from California, unless it was an old, glued-together piece of junk, like this was.

Ellie was trying to calm the Westens down as they approached Jurassic Park, but she didn't look very relaxed herself. And Malcolm was trying to explain how chaos theory predicted how much of a chance they had of getting out of Jurassic Park alive.

Suddenly, what appeared to be a large bird crashed into the plane, startling all seven people on board. But it was a Pteranodon, with a 30-foot wingspan, a giant beak, and an attitude to match. The Pteranodon smashed the Cessna's front propellor and the windshield, and then flew away.

This caused the plane to make a dangerous nosedive, and the pilot shouted, "We're going to have to make a water landing!" He quickly pushed a button, which inflated a water raft around the plane, and then jerked back hard on the throttle. Miraculously, they managed to land safely in the water.

"We did it!" the pilot and co-pilot yelled together, as the downed Cessna came to a rest on the beach.

But something lurked under the water. And its two menacing eyes glided silently above the surface, watching and waiting to make its move. Finally, the monster surfaced and let out an earthshaking roar.

This wasn't like any dinosaur that Grant had ever seen before. It was almost 20 feet tall and 50 feet long. It had a large, bony sail on its back, a crocodilian snout with serrated teeth, was brownish in color, and had long, sinewy arms, ending with three six-inch claws on each hand. He couldn't remember what this creature was called. But whatever it was, it was terrifying, and it looked very hungry!

The dinosaur immediately grabbed and ate the pilot. His co-pilot desperately sprayed the plane's sole fire-extinguisher at it's eyes, but it was only slowed down, not stopped. As soon as the fire retardant ran out, the co-pilot became a snack.

Then the dinosaur let out a roar, lifted the plane up, and tossed it aside, causing it to explode when it landed. All five of the passengers escaped undetected, or so they thought...and they thought wrong.

The dinosaur (whose name Grant now remembered was "Spinosaurus") roared and thundered through the jungle, knocking trees aside as it pursued its prey. How ironic, Malcolm thought. Now we are the ones who need to be rescued.

Stranded, Day 8

Ben and his small tribe set out to find a different refuge, where they could be safe from Jack and his gang. But at the same time, they were being stalked by Jack, who wanted to make sure that Ben could never threaten his hero status again. It would be easy to make his death look like an accident...

Little did any of them know that a stampede was heading their way. It was composed of a motley group of herbivores, including (but not limited to) Triceratops, Brachiosaurus, Parasaurolophus, Corythosaurus, Ouranosaurus, Ankylosaurus, and Pacycephalosaurus. And pursuing them all was the Tyrannosaurus Rex from before.

The found a baby Corythosaurus, separated it from the rest of the herd, and easily took it down and ate it in three bites. Then he smelled the strange scent from earlier, remembered that it came from animals who were easy prey, and decided to leave the rest of the herd alone for now while he hunted more of these snacks.

As it roared and charged in their direction, all of the kids ran away from the at the fastest speed they had ever gone in their lives. But it was going at 25 mph, and gaining fast. So, Jack pushed Jenna, once his chieftainess, out of the way in order to save his own skin.

Jenna fell down and broke one of her high heels, which she simply kicked off. Then a courageous boy named Ralph decided to help her run, but she slowed him down, and he was eaten for his efforts. She nearly became dino food herself, but only suffered some tears in her dress.

As Jenna watched yet another kid named Sam (probably pushed by Jack) get swallowed by the , she reflected for a moment on how shallow and aimless her life had been up to this point.

Jack's and Ben's groups continued to run until they were in a clearing of woods, at which point they saw some adults running towards them. Were they all crazy?

Unfortunately for them, the kids saw the reason why the adults were fleeing. A bellow emanated from the forest as the Spinosaurus stomped after them. (Greg remembered that it was the same dinosaur that had attacked them after their plane had crashed.)

Shortly afterwards, the arrived, and he roared and charged at the intruder. Now they all knew what it was like to be a football in the kickoff to a football game!

A battle of the titans had begun, and the humans wisely ducked into the sidelines and hid in some bushes.

The hit the Spinosaurus in the head at full speed and opened his jaws up to bite down, but then the Spinosaurus slammed the sideways. The jumped up and hit Spinosaurus again, knocking him off balance.

Both fighters kept a close eye on each other, and then Spinosaurus mock-charged to bait the . It worked, as the charged back, but was hit in the head.

The gave an enraged roar and left a bite mark on the sail of the Spinosaurus. Spinosaurus roared in pain, and then slashed the 's head with one giant claw. After a few tense moments passed, both dinosaurs walked away, having fought each other to a stalemate.

And just when the group thought the coast was clear, masked men with guns surprised them and demanded, "You come with us, now!" The prisoners complied.


	7. Chapter VII

Chapter VII

Stranded, Day 12

Ben Westen, who only days before had been just a normal teenager from California, was now trapped in a dark, dank holding cell with his classmates in the surreal lost world of Jurassic Park.

And when he woke up, he saw that he was chained next to Rebecca.

"Where are we?" he asked her, his voice hoarse.

Rebecca started to cry. "I don't know, Ben..."

Ben looked around. After all of the events over the past two weeks, only 11 people remained out of the original 17. Fortunately, Greg, Michael, and Sal were still alive. Perhaps unfortunately, Jack and Jenna were with them as well.

And once he saw Jack, Ben couldn't control his rage, and almost immediately, he blurted,

"It's all your fault! You didn't do anything get except push us around and get us killed! I suppose you think that this is all a game to make yourself look like the hero, like when you throw a stupid ball around back at school! Well, Bobby, Anthony, Ralph, and Sam were people, NOT footballs!"

"You're going to regret ever saying that," Jack grunted, spitting at Ben. "You don't think that it kills me that they died on my watch? You don't think that their memories haunt my dreams every night? You don't think that maybe I'm not the bad guy here? I'm confused, and worried, and scared, and I don't know what to do, alright?"

"Well, because of you, Jack, six people are now dead! Don't make yourself look like the innocent victim here, because you're not! I saw you push people out of the way. I saw you abandon me to die in the woods! Think of what your parents would say...?"

Jack yelled, "If I get out of here, you're dead, Ben Westen! You hear me? DEAD!" His roar loudly echoed off of the walls of the holding cell, and then he started to cry.

Greg whispered, "Uh, bad timing, much?" And right on cue, a guard walked through the door, letting the bare minimum of light through.

"You're all gonna be dead if you don't shuddup!" the guard snapped. He fired off ten rounds at the ceiling as a warning, and then left.

Rebecca was now crying too. Ben leaned over to where she was and softly whispered, "What is it, Rebecca?"

"It's just...jus..." Rebecca gargled. "So many of my friends are gone, and it's too much to see you guys fighting, and the dinosaurs, and, and..." She swallowed her words at that point.

Ben was about to say something more when Jenna screamed, "I thought you loved me, Jack! I thought..."

"I do!" Jack shouted back.

"Then why did you push me? I could be dino crap right now and you wouldn't care! You don't care about anybody except yourself, you...!"

While Jack and Jenna were arguing, Ben tried to say what he wanted to say to Rebecca again. It kept getting stuck in his throat, and made him gag. But finally, he said,

"Rebecca, for a long time I, I, I..."

"What, Ben?" asked Rebecca.

"I have a crush on you," Ben said. "Back at school, you were one of the "popular girls," so I couldn't even try. But now that we could die at any moment, I just want you to know how I feel."

"I feel the same way," Rebecca replied. "I defended you from Jack because I love you very much, Ben."

Since they couldn't lean close enough to kiss each other, what with their hands being tied to a wall, they simply blew kisses. Ben's heart skipped a beat.

All Greg said was, "Ewwww, gross!"

Meanwhile, the five adults were in a separate holding chamber, and, unlike the one for the children, there was a guard watching them at all times.

Mrs. Westen yelled at the top of her voice, "Let me go, you b****rd! I want to see my son! I'm worried sick about him!"

"Anyone who pipes up again will get a bullet in their brain! Got that?" an olive-skinned guard with wild dark hair demanded. After a while, he added, "Good."

Then the old, creaky wooden door started to crack, slowly yet surely... The guard rushed to untie Dr. Grant, Dr. Sattler, Dr. Malcolm and the Westens and yelled, "We have to move quickly! Keep running!"

A few minutes later, all of the children were untied and escorted by their guard as well. And shortly after that, the door finally gave way, and the Spinosaurus smashed through the wall and charged!

The guard who was leading the kids tripped a boy named Thomas to slow down the Spinosaurus. Thomas was readily eaten, but then an enraged Greg punched the guard in the face, who then fell over and was flattened by the Spinosaurus's massive foot.

The olive-skinned guard shot at the Spinosaurus, buying them all some time to get out the back of the building. But then the Spinosaurus smashed through the back wall and resumed the chase.

Immediately, the group dove through a hole in an old fence in order to try to escape. To the relief of the humans, once they went past the trees, the Spinosaurus could not fit through the fence, no matter how hard he tried and struggled.

The Spinosaurus bashed his head against the fence, throwing all of his power into this attack, but the it was made of 8 inches of solid steel and thick cables. He gave a roar of frustration, his eyes seething with fiery vengeance, and then stomped away.

Once the coast was clear, Grant elbowed the guard in the face, then kicked him in the groin and chest, quickly knocking him out and taking his rifle. He told everybody, "I know a way that we can get to the coast and rescue. Ian, you need lead everybody back to where our plane was. I'll catch up with you later."

"Aye aye, cap'n!" Malcolm mock-saluted. Then he walked into the distance, and everybody except Ellie and Grant followed him.

"Why are we waiting here?" Ellie asked.

Grant told her, "Being on this God-forsaken island again made me realize that life is too short to wait. I'm not going to put off the things that I love any longer."

He got down on one knee. "Ellie Sattler, will you marry me?"

Ellie put her hand on her heart and sighed. "Yes!" she cried. Then she and Grant hugged.

"I'll buy you a ring and we'll have all the bells and whistles if we make it back to the States alive," Grant said.

"No, Alan. We're going to get back, because I love you, and I can't let you die!" Ellie shouted.

"Them's fightin' words!" Grant chuckled. He then picked Ellie up and carried her through the woods.

Meanwhile, in Malcolm's group, Ben Westen spotted his parents, and his eyes welled over immediately. "Mom! Dad!" he yelled, running over to them as fast as he could.

"Ben? Is that you?" Mr. Westen yelled, a smile slowly creeping onto his face for the first time in four days.

"BEN! I was so worried! I'm glad you're alive!" Mrs. Westen yelled, hugging him strongly and weeping and wailing and laughing, all at the same time. All she cared about was that her son, whom had been missing for nearly two weeks, was finally safe.

They all paused near the shade of a prehistoric palm tree, eating some berries. And then Malcolm took Ben and Jack aside.

"Sit down," he said, and they obeyed.

"Listen," he continued, with a large sigh. "I was here before, a lot. Grant the Big-Shot Paleontologist may tell you he's been there, but this is a different island, and only I truly know what you're going through."

Ben and Jack looked confused.

"Anyway, point is- none of this is your fault, OK? In 1993, a crazy old coot by the name of John Hammond resurrected dinosaurs, and thought he could control them, and make them into zoo exhibits. He was wrong, and because of him, many, many people have died. Yet the government has hidden this from you, until now.

"I have been hunted by these monsters before. Friends, colleagues, sons, daughters, no one is safe. I've seen people being ripped apart. I saw a Tyrannosaurus Rex smash San Diego before you were even out of elementary school. It's horrifying, and almost unimaginable. And from what I've heard of your conversations, it's been hard on you lately, too.

"Believe me, it's tough. But you can't let the island take over you, make you descend to the level of these animals. Got that? Let's suck it up, and try to stay alive, which is the most important thing. But more importantly, you need to know this: the universe is random, and we can't control much of anything. Bad luck comes your way? Well, too bad. We can grieve when we got off this stinkin' place."

Then he stormed off in a huff, muttering, "Kids these days!"

Ben and Jack just shrugged, thinking he was off his rocker.


End file.
